One Card Short, Part One FREE
by Author Greg
Summary: Yugi's changing, and he's the only one who hasn't noticed it. And who's this mysterious redheaded girl who's taken such an interest in Yugi, anyway?
1. Rainstorms and Bus Rides

**ONE CARD SHORT:**

**CHAPTER ONE - RAINSTORMS AND BUS RIDES**

"Seriously, that's the funniest damn thing I've heard all day."

Written by Gregory Smith

All characters portrayed within are copyright 1996 Kazuki Takahashi,

With the exception of Gradius, who is copyright 2003 Gregory Smith.

Freshman year had been the hardest for Yugi Mutou, thanks to the introduction of the Shadow Games into his life. Kaiba, Pegasus, Malik, Yami… That particular year had been so tough on him, and the Millennium Puzzle was in a drawer in his room, now. He didn't want those memories to come back during the day; they disturbed him enough at night. Sophomore year was a breeze, though, and he only had to genuinely be concerned about playing Duel Monsters once or twice the whole year. But the trials of Yugi's junior year at Domino High School were going to put his hellish freshman year to shame, and the Shadow Games were getting ready to play a big part in his life once again. It all started on a cloudy, gray morning…

Yugi slowly stepped out the door of the Kame Game Shop, putting a hand over his mouth as he yawned. In the years since his freshman year, he'd grown almost a full two feet taller, and was thus no longer the victim of bullying at his school. "That's odd," he thought, looking up confusedly at the sky, "The news said that it was going to be sunny today… I guess you really _can't _trust the weatherman." He shrugged to himself and started walking to the bus stop, adjusting the straps of his backpack on his shoulders. As Yugi waited, it started to rain, which frustrated him greatly. _They should build a damn canopy over at least one of the bus stops in this city,_ he thought, as the rain began to soak through his jacket. When the bus pulled up, Yugi was overcome with an odd sense of dread, one he hadn't felt for two years… He decided it was nothing, though, and stepped aboard the bus, which drove away into the rainy morning.

Across town, near the school, Jounouchi was running at top speed to get inside and out of the rain. "Dammit!" he shouted angrily, as his ash-blonde hair was soaked by the downpour, "There wasn't supposed to be any rain today! Stupid weatherman!" Sprinting faster, he dashed into the school building. _Jeeze, I was looking good today, too,_ he thought, shaking water out of his hair and wondering how he was going to dry off his thoroughly soaked uniform.

Standing on the bus, Yugi sighed irately as his rain-soaked blond bangs fell into his eyes. As it always was on _any_ rainy morning, the bus was full of people complaining about how soaking wet they were from the "damned rain." There were the same familiar faces on the bus. The same girls, the same guys; all of them were sitting or standing in their accustomed places. It would have been just like any other rainy morning, if Yugi weren't feeling that immense trepidation that had started when the bus picked him up. _Something's not right today,_ Yugi thought, scanning the bus with his deep, amethyst eyes, _and that's a feeling I _really_ don't like._

"Hey, who's she?" a voice whispered near Yugi, who decided that he'd listen in on the newly begun conversation.

"I dunno," another voice replied, "But she's pretty cute!"

_OK,_ Yugi thought, looking around the bus for a new, female face, _that gives me a little bit more information… Cute girl, and she's new to riding this bus._ Suddenly, as if his feelings had cued his realization, Yugi saw a girl he'd never seen before. She was sitting in a seat near the back of the bus, staring out the window; as if she was fascinated by the way the rain was falling. But there was something in those emerald green eyes of hers; something so sad… She flicked her lengthy, scarlet hair out of her eyes and sighed, folding her arms across her very flat chest. She was wearing a black jacket, a white t-shirt, and some torn blue jeans; she wasn't carrying anything with her. When she noticed Yugi was looking (more _staring_ than _looking_, actually) at her, she glared a little bit and turned back to the window. Yugi felt an elbow nudge his side.

"Hey, you got the hots for that girl or something, Yugi?" a voice laughed in a hushed tone, "You better not let Anzu find out!"

"I'm dying laughing," Yugi answered in monotone, rolling his eyes, "Seriously, that's the funniest damn thing I've heard all day." And that sardonic quip was the last thing Yugi said to anyone on the bus that morning.


	2. A Brief Bout With Eternity

**ONE CARD SHORT:**

**CHAPTER TWO - A BRIEF BOUT WITH ETERNITY**

" …You think I'm going crazy, don't you?"

Written by Gregory Smith

All characters portrayed within are copyright 1996 Kazuki Takahashi,

With the exception of Gradius, who is copyright 2003 Gregory Smith.

Jounouchi looked out the classroom window, waiting for one specific bus to pull up to the school. "Yugi's bus is late today…" he muttered to himself, as the rain obstructed his view through the lucent portal in the wall, "…Eh, must just be the rain causing some sort of delay, or something." But, deep down inside, that wasn't what he felt; something wasn't _right_ today, and he just couldn't place it. He shut his eyes, thumping his forehead against his desk with a loud "WHACK!" At this sound, Anzu was startled, and walked over to Jounouchi's desk.

"You sure you want a concussion so early in the day?" she asked, sitting on the corner of Jounouchi's desk and looking down at him, smiling her esteemed smile.

"Ehh, very funny, Anzu," Jounouchi mumbled into the cold tabletop, "but I just have this weird feeling… y'know, like something's not right?" Jounouchi looked up at Anzu through half-open eyes; she stared dully back at him. "…You think I'm going crazy, don't you?"

"Err, no!" Anzu quickly defended, even though she _did_ think Jounouchi was off his rocker, "Not at all, Jounouchi-kun!" She smiled again, hoping Jounouchi would believe her, despite the fact that she was a terrible liar.

Jounouchi smiled back. "Well, thanks, Anzu-chan," he said, clunking his forehead back against the school desk.

"Hey, stop that," Anzu said, now looking concernedly at Jounouchi, "you really might end up hurting yourself. You'll get a bump on your head or something."

"Ehh, so?" Jounouchi sighed, and raised his head for another whack against the wood of the desk.

"Jounouchi-kun, that's enough!" Anzu shouted, placing her hand in between the desk and Jounouchi's ill-protected brow.

Jounouchi blinked, stunned, his forehead now resting in Anzu's soft palm. Anzu had never once stopped him from hitting his head against stuff in previous years, and he had hit his head against _a lot_ of stuff. There was the concrete wall, and the lamppost, and the car door… What was making her stop him? He looked up confusedly at Anzu, lifting his cranium from her hand and quirking an eyebrow. "Uhh… Anzu?" he inquired, blinking once again, still rather stunned, "What was that about?"

Anzu didn't know. She had always found it kind of funny when Jounouchi hit his head against things, as long as it hadn't seriously injured him. So why was she stopping him from such a little thing like hitting his forehead against a school desk? She thought up an answer as she pulled back her hand, but nothing she could say would make any sense. "Well, I…" she faltered, as she had always been bad at improvisation, "I was just…"

Their eyes met, and locked in eternity.

And, as fast as eternity had begun, it shattered with Honda's entrance into the room. "Yo, Jounouchi! Anzu!" he bellowed with his annoying voice, rainwater dripping from his trench coat, "That rain sure is crazy out there, isn't it?"

Anzu and Jounouchi quickly tried to make it look like they hadn't even been talking, but it was too late for that; any person of average intelligence would have seen the looks in their eyes and known immediately that something had happened between the two of them. However, Honda was not a man of average intelligence, and he simply figured that the two hadn't talked yet this morning.

"Yeah, that rain is hell!" Jounouchi fake-laughed, sitting up straight in his chair and looking over at Honda, "Soaked my clothes completely!"

Outside, Yugi was stepping off the bus, and getting rain-soaked all over again. "Dammit! I was almost dry, too…" he muttered, taking up a slow pace to the school entrance, "Oh well, doesn't matter how fast I get into the building. I'll still be soaking wet, anyhow." As the rainfall pounded against his back, Yugi couldn't stop thinking about the red-haired girl on the bus. _Who was she,_ he thought, reaching the school's doors and opening them, _and why did she look so sad?_ The answers escaped him as he stepped into the school building, his shoes making a squishing noise as he walked.


	3. The Reason You Didn't Go

**ONE CARD SHORT:**

**CHAPTER THREE - THE REASON YOU DIDN'T GO**

"You shouldn't hit your head on thick, metal tables."

Written by Gregory Smith

All characters portrayed within are copyright 1996 Kazuki Takahashi,

With the exception of Gradius, who is copyright 2003 Gregory Smith.

Across town, Seto Kaiba sat by a window in the towering Kaiba Corporation office building. He'd called himself in sick to school that particularly rainy day, and yet he didn't know exactly _why_. Something just told him it was a bad day; something in his overdeveloped teenage mind had said that he shouldn't go to school and should instead go to his 45th-story office at Kaiba Corp. "This is stupid," he muttered to himself, watching the dismal gray Domino City skyline being riddled with silver lightning bolts, "What's wrong with me today? I'm not sick or anything like that… What am I thinking? Skipping school… Stupid, Seto."

The videophone on his desk rang. With each ring, Kaiba's heart beat faster and faster; it may have been the school principal, just calling to check if Kaiba was _really_ sick. _Should I answer it,_ he pondered, wondering what the punishment for skipping school would be like, _I mean, can I really take that chance?_ After about the twentieth ring, and against his better judgment, he answered the videophone, "Kaiba here."

The image of one of his employees popped up onto the screen. "Kaiba-san," the employee began, pushing up on his sunglasses, "there's someone here to see you. They… they say that they're the reason you aren't at school today."

Kaiba blinked, as perplexed as the employee delivering the message was. "Err… send them up," he commanded unevenly, hanging up the videophone, "…'The reason I'm not at school'?" Kaiba sat down at his desk, resting his head in his hands, propping himself up on his elbows. Now he was more confused than he'd been this morning! Pushing his palms along his forehead and across his scalp, he ruffled his auburn hair in frustration; then, in the instant his hands weren't supporting his skull anymore, his forehead unexpectedly clanked against his metal desk. This, of course, received a negative response from Kaiba, who hadn't planned on cracking his braincase at any point in the day. "Ow! God dammit!" Heatedly, he sat back in his chair, rubbing the red spot on his brow where a small protuberance was forming.

"That was pretty silly of you, Kaiba-san," a tomboyish voice projected from the office's door, "You shouldn't hit your head on thick, metal tables."

Kaiba was, once again, perplexed. "Who the hell?" Kaiba muttered, looking across the office to the large door, which had somehow been opened without him hearing it. _That stupid thing usually squeaks when it opens,_ he thought sorely, locking eyes with his scarlet-haired visitor. Something wasn't right about this person; for one thing, Kaiba was positive it was a female, but the voice could have suited either a female _or_ a male. The clothes it was wearing didn't help, since the visitor was wearing a pair of torn blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black jacket. He decided he'd venture a question aimed towards gaining her (or maybe it was _his_) name. "And you are?"

The guest smiled, their emerald green eyes burning into the cobalt blue of Kaiba's. "I'm the reason you're not at school today!" they giggled, putting their arms behind their back. It was with that one, single giggle that Kaiba perceived his guest as a young woman from that point onwards.

"OK," Kaiba laughed quietly, folding his hands on his desk and leaning forward intently in his chair, "You've got me interested. Why are _you_ the reason I didn't go to school today?"

"It'll take a little while to explain," she answered, pushing the door shut behind her and taking a seat on the chair parallel to Kaiba, "but you've got nothing but time today, don't you, Kaiba-san?"


	4. Savior or Not

**ONE CARD SHORT:**

**CHAPTER FOUR - SAVIOR OR NOT**

"If you have a wish, you should just go for it."

Written by Gregory Smith

All characters portrayed within are copyright 1996 Kazuki Takahashi,

With the exception of Gradius, who is copyright 2003 Gregory Smith.

As the long, rainy day carried on, Yugi became less and less interested in what was going on in his classes, and more and more interested with the girl he'd seen on the bus. There was even a point where he started mumbling aloud how "stupid he thought math was, and if he had the choice, he'd abolish it." This, naturally, didn't receive a very optimistic reaction from Yugi's calculus teacher, as she sent him to the principal's office. But Yugi didn't go to the office; instead, he wandered the halls.

_This isn't anything like me,_ Yugi thought as his leather boots clicked against the tile floor of Domino City High School's hallway, _so why am I acting like this? I've been like this ever since the end of sophomore year… If only Yami hadn't_ Yugi closed that line of thinking; he wasn't going to think about Yami today. However, Yugi couldn't find any other thoughts to occupy his brain, so he just continued to walk through the school building.

Somehow, some way, Yugi had walked up the steps to the roof and now faced the door that led to it. "Hmm," Yugi contemplated as he reached for the door handle, "I wonder if the rain's letting up at all." Upon opening the door, he found that it was; it had stopped raining almost entirely. The sun was stealing a glance out from behind a cloud, and the same gray clouds were moving away from Domino City. Yugi smiled a little bit; his first smile in an entire year. Something about looking at Domino City from this height made him happy; he was content with life. "I wish I could just stay up here and watch this scenery forever…"

"So what's stopping you, Yugi?" called the same tomboyish voice that had called to Kaiba earlier that very same day, "If you have a wish, you should just go for it."

"Who?" Yugi wondered as he turned around, meeting the redheaded girl from the bus that morning eye-to-eye, "It's you!"

"Yeah, it's me!" she answered, giggling and folding her arms behind her head as she leaned back against a wall, "You've been thinking about me a lot today, haven't you, Yugi?" When Yugi's answer was just a modicum of mumbled, incomprehensible words, she knew that she was right.

"Well," Yugi began, subsequent to composing himself, "I was just confused as to who you were. With the way we 'met' on the bus this morning, I haven't been able to stop wondering about you."

The girl looked slightly agitated. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she muttered, narrowing her eyes a little bit towards Yugi.

"It means…" Yugi stammered, trying to get a handle on his words, " It means that I want to get to know you better."

The girl's mood seemed to get even fouler after that remark. "And would you mind telling me, Yugi," the girl mumbled, now unfolding her arms and taking a few steps towards Yugi, "what you're trying to say here?"

Yugi took a step back, becoming slightly afraid of how menacing the girl had suddenly become. _OK, Yugi,_ he thought, looking into the girl's angry green eyes, _what the hell did you say? What'd you do so wrong that pissed her off this much?_…

Suddenly, it hit Yugi like a steamroller. Not _her._

_Him. _

"Err…" Yugi spluttered, trying to save himself from being thrown off the roof of the school building by the guy he'd mistaken for a girl, "…I didn't catch your name…?"

"Huh?" the boy inquired as he stopped, his eyes suddenly returning to their normal vibrancy, "Oh! It's Gradius! Gradius Twinburniern!" The boy smiled, putting out his right hand.

In his mind, Yugi let out a sigh of relief (while thanking God that this kid was a little bit bipolar), and shook Gradius' hand. "Pleased to meet you, Gradius," he said, his voice now confident, since he knew Gradius wasn't going to try and rip his limbs off, "I'm Yugi Mutou." _Great move, there, Yugi,_ he thought, _telling him who you are. If he doesn't know who _you_ are, he's been living under a rock for the past two years… _

Gradius grinned. "Who _doesn't_ know that?" he questioned jokingly as he let go of Yugi's hand, "You're the King of Games!" This netted an energetic laugh from Yugi, who hadn't been called by his world-class title in at least an entire year. This laughter befuddled Gradius. "What's so funny, Yugi?"

"It's just" Yugi started, then laughed again; after about a minute, he calmed himself down a little bit so that he could respond, "It's just that _nobody's_ called me that since the Battle City tournament!" After a little bit more laughing, Yugi decided it was time to get down to business. Gradius was there to meet with him for a reason, and Yugi wanted to know why. It seemed like Gradius understood this when he was the first one to start up the conversation again.

"Yugi," Gradius started, becoming serious, "idle chat isn't the reason I followed you here. I have something urgent that I need to discuss with you."

Yugi nodded, understanding. "And that is?" he asked, feeling like he knew what the question was going to be about, anyway. _I'm not going along with it, _Yugi thought,_ if this has anything to do with_

"The Shadow Games," Gradius spoke, a twinge of fear in his voice, "and you're the only one who can stop them."

Yugi glared, hate welling up inside of him. He wasn't getting involved this time; savior or not, he was tired of it. Yami was gone, so he didn't have any need (or desire) to be a hero anymore. "I'm sorry Gradius," he sighed, walking past his new "friend" and opening the exit door from the roof, "I can't help you. The Shadow Games don't concern me anymore." And with that he exited the roof, leaving Gradius standing alone in the wind.

"That's what _you_ think, Yugi," Gradius growled, his emerald eyes becoming silver, as the wind around him began to pick up due to some inexplicable force, "You're going to help us, whether you like it or not." As Gradius spoke, the cloud cover moved back over Domino City, and the downpour began violently. In the stratosphere, a purple-black sphere enveloped the planet, shrouding the world in a violet darkness.

It was from this sordid event that the second round of the Shadow Games began.


	5. Deal With It

**ONE CARD SHORT:**

**CHAPTER FIVE - DEAL WITH IT**

"I'm reminded of Malik, if you want me to be blunt."

Written by Gregory Smith

All characters portrayed within are copyright 1996 Kazuki Takahashi,

With the exception of Gradius, who is copyright 2003 Gregory Smith.

It took some time, but the school day ended. And, with the rainstorm still going on outside, nobody really noticed the strange, purple tint the sky had taken. They'd all seen some crazy things in Domino City; cards coming to life, giant blimps made specifically for Duel Monsters gaming, _Kaiba Land_… Yeah, a mildly purple sky wasn't anything to get riled up over.

Then again, for the parties involved in said "crazy things," this was something to be alarmed about.

"You guys reminded of anything by that purple color?" Jounouchi asked, his voice tinged with wrath. Whatever was going on, he didn't like the looks of it.

"I'm reminded of Malik, if you want me to be blunt," Honda returned, right hand clenching into a fist. The same as Jounouchi, Honda didn't like what was going on. It just felt too familiar, and that was a bad thing.

Anzu's heart sank when she heard the name "Malik." Anytime somebody mentioned Malik, she'd start thinking about Yugi. Then she'd start thinking about Yami… Then she'd think about how she and Yugi weren't all that close anymore. All of it really made her want to cry. And she did, sometimes, but it was never when others were around; she liked to think she was stronger than that. And she was, in a sense, but she still relied on everyone for most of her strength. And she'd lost a big part of that strength when they'd lost Yami.

Jounouchi noticed the sudden change in disposition in Anzu, but didn't really know how to deal with it. He felt exactly the same way she did, but he could never come out and state it. They _all_ missed Yami, so why should he even say anything about it? It's not like he had reserved some special right to miss him more than everyone else. His mouth kept shut, although his heart was desperate to scream out what he felt. He wanted Anzu to know; he wanted _her_ to know.

Their eyes met only for a moment, the second time that day. And Jounouchi nodded, as if to tell Anzu "I'm here for you, y'know, if you need anything." And, in all the time they'd known each other, Anzu took this for exactly what it meant and smiled a little.

Across town, another day was ending, and another crisis was beginning.


	6. Still Proud

**ONE CARD SHORT:**

**CHAPTER SIX - STILL PROUD**

"Shadow Games? We put a stop to those years ago."

Written by Gregory Smith

All characters portrayed within are copyright 1996 Kazuki Takahashi,

With the exception of Gradius, who is copyright 2003 Gregory Smith.

Kaiba was ready to go home. The school day was over, and yet he hadn't been able to avoid the creeping consequence of his actions. Even though he hadn't gone to school that day, Gradius had still come to see him. Despite trying to get away from everything, everything had come to find him. "Can't outrun my fate, I suppo—" Kaiba thoughtfully began, as his office door suddenly slammed open, "_Hey!_ Who the hell—" Kaiba stopped himself, even though he hated being interrupted.

In his doorway, dripping wet with rainwater, almost completely out of breath, and eyes wide and afire with desperation, stood Yugi. Awkwardness reigned for a moment as the two stared at each other in an almost _stunned_ silence.

"Well, shut the door, Yugi," Kaiba reacted coolly, his eyes returning to their normal shape and angularity, "How the hell did you get up here, anyway? I'd like to think my guards stopped you."

Yugi smirked a little, shaking his head roughly, water sailing about the room from the massive, five-pointed crown of hair adorning his head. "Come on, Seto-san," he chuckled, watching Kaiba wipe unwanted rainwater from his own face, "We've been together for so many years, _I'd_ like to think your guards would just let me come upstairs."

"And, from you being here, looks like they _did,_" Kaiba grumbled, making a sort-of snorting noise, and turned to his desk to sit down, "And what the hell do you mean by 'together'? You'd better not be getting any 'alternative lifestyle' ideas."

Yugi's smirk grew into something of a wicked smile. "Honestly, Seto-san," he chortled, quickly making his way over to Kaiba's desk, taking a seat on the edge of the boy genius' metal workspace, "You know that's the furthest thing from my mind. I just used 'together' because we may as well be family with how long we've known each other."

Kaiba shut his eyes tightly for a second. "Yugi, enough with the formalities," he began quietly, heatedly drumming the table with his fingers, "so will you just cut the bullshit?" His eyes opened slowly, looking up at a no-longer-smiling Yugi, who now wore a rather serious expression on his face.

"Fine," Yugi answered simple, folding his arms, "Did a boy named Gradius visit you today?" Yugi judged Kaiba's sudden twitch as a "yes" and explained everything Gradius had told him. In between Yugi's explanations, Kaiba explained what Gradius had told _him_, as well. Finally, after an hour, there was silence again.

"Shadow Games?" Kaiba chuckled, finally, looking up at Yugi with a wry smile on his face, "We put a stop to those years ago." It wasn't like Kaiba to use "we" to refer to himself and Yugi, but it was true. It had taken the both of them to save the world from final destruction, and they were proud of it. Even if Kaiba wasn't vocal about it, he was still proud.

Yugi couldn't bring back a smirk. "Kaiba," he asked, almost monotone, "Have you looked out your window in the last … oh, I'd say two hours?" His arms folded tighter; he knew Kaiba would be a stubborn ass about this.

Kaiba blinked, standing up and turning to his window. He hadn't; he closed the blinds after Gradius left, since the sun was coming out and he wasn't really used to daylight all that much as of late. "Of _course_ I have, Yugi!" he answered with a confident lie, pulling open the blinds forcefully, "What makes you think I—" And, in an instant, Kaiba was struck dumb by the blank, purple sky. Yugi simply looked uncomfortable, despite the situation they were faced with.

"You see, Kaiba…?" Yugi asked absently, his expression taking on that of a concerned one, "But it's not just Domino City, this time! The whole planet's been covered!"

Kaiba half-sighed, shutting his eyes. "And this concerns me," Kaiba growled, leaning his forehead against the plate-glass window, "because the whole world's at stake. Why can't we all just get a break, for once?" Yugi didn't have the answers; he hardly ever saw Kaiba like this. Kaiba was downright _depressed_ about this. But why shouldn't he have been? Hell on earth shouldn't get the chance to make a comeback.

"Seto-san…" Yugi sighed, reaching for his friend's shoulder for a moment before pulling his hand back.

"Yugi, don't say anything." Kaiba snapped, standing up and pulling on his trench coat; his ever-present briefcase came along with him, "We need to get moving." His determined cobalt eyes bored straight into Yugi; this wasn't a joke. The world was going to end this time, and they really _were_ the only ones who could stop it from happening.

"Right." Yugi answered bluntly, pulling his uniform shirt back over his shoulders; he changed his mind, though, pulling it over his arms instead. This brief exchange of movements from Yugi caused a moment of pause for Kaiba. For just an instant, Yugi had looked almost exactly like Yami. Kaiba's heart hurt for that instant, too. But he couldn't look back on two years past anymore. They had to stop _the present._

Kaiba could deal with his demons later.


	7. Almost Stupidly

**ONE CARD SHORT:**

**CHAPTER SEVEN - ALMOST STUPIDLY**

"Would you just answer that already?"

Written by Gregory Smith

All characters portrayed within are copyright 1996 Kazuki Takahashi,

With the exception of Gradius, who is copyright 2003 Gregory Smith.

"Crap," Jounouchi sighed, handing Anzu's cell phone back to her, frustration smearing his face, "Yugi's not answering his cell." This brought a collective slump of shoulders to the three teenagers, along with accompanying sighs.

"Where do you think he is?" Honda asked, half concerned, half annoyed, "I didn't even see him today!" He hardly _ever_ saw Yugi anymore, but that wasn't really the point. The point was that he wanted to find Yugi and ask him if he knew _anything_ about this purple fog; Yugi had been an unwitting bearer of doomsday on numerous occasions, so it wouldn't have surprised Honda if the new color of the sky was Yugi's fault, too.

"Tch," Jounouchi spat, which was something he'd been doing lately when people mentioned Yugi, "He was probably skipping again." Even _Jounouchi_ at least _showed up_ to school. Some days, Yugi didn't even come. Jounouchi missed the old Yugi; that was the Yugi he felt some sort of attachment to. But lately, Yugi had been distancing himself from everyone, and never had any time to hang out. Anzu was worried and Honda was confused, but Jounouchi … he was downright pissed off.

Anzu sighed, staring at her cell phone. Yugi wasn't going to return their calls, no matter how much they tried; that didn't stop her from redialing his number and trying again. She waited a few seconds, and then heard the familiar ringing. It kept ringing, though. Anzu muttered something under her breath, squeezing the cell phone just a little bit. Yugi never answered his cell phone…

_Bee-beep! Bee-beep! _

"Would you just answer that already?" Kaiba grumbled, running alongside Yugi, headed towards the museum, "That must be the fifth call you've gotten!" If there was ever trouble dealing with Shadow Games and the like, the answers were disgustingly likely to be at the museum.

"I can't answer my cell phone and run at the same time!" Yugi barked back, netting a little moment of shock from Kaiba, "I'll trip myself up! I'll call them back when we get to the museum!" Yugi Mutou, winner of almost every major Duel Monsters event in recent history, couldn't answer a cell phone while running.

Kaiba smirked, almost stupidly.


	8. Silence On the Other End

**ONE CARD SHORT:**

**CHAPTER EIGHT - SILENCE ON THE OTHER END**

"Did you call me _ten_ times?"

Written by Gregory Smith

All characters portrayed within are copyright 1996 Kazuki Takahashi,

With the exception of Gradius, who is copyright 2003 Gregory Smith.

"Would you put that away, Anzu?" Jounouchi grumbled, as they slowly walked downtown, "He's not gonna pick up. He never does." Anzu sighed in reply, putting the phone into her purse. Jounouchi was right; Yugi would never pick up his cell phone. If he had something important to tell them, he'd call them. He wasn't going to call them ba—

Anzu's ringtone cut through the air like so many razor blades, and she quickly fumbled for her purse's zipper, trying to get the cell phone before Yugi hung up. After a few seconds, she managed to unzip the purse and extract the cell phone. Answering in a huff, she asked "Yugi? Is that you?"

The line was silent for a few seconds, but it sounded like Yugi was talking off to the side of the phone. Suddenly, he replied to Anzu.

_"Did you call me _ten_ times?" _

"Yugi, we were—"

_"Anzu! _Ten_ times?" _

"That's not important right now! Yugi, why's the sky purple all of the sudden?"

Subject-changer Anzu had won her first battle for the day, as the line fell silent again. On the other end, she heard shouting, then faint whispering.

_"Are Jounouchi and Honda with you?" _

"Yeah, they are." Anzu turned and looked to the two boys with a "he asked if you were with me" look. The two dumbly returned with a "why the hell is he asking about us?" look, performed in perfect unison.

Silence on the other end reigned supreme. Was Yugi confirming all of this with someone?

_"Come to the museum, and bring them with you! This concerns them, too!" _

"Yugi, wait! What's going—"

_"I'll explain later!"_

There was a quiet popping noise, and then the line fell silent for the last time. Anzu turned and looked at Jounouchi and Honda. "It looks like we're going to the museum," she said, putting her cell phone back into her purse. Jounouchi and Honda turned and looked at each other with serious faces; they didn't like where this was all headed.


End file.
